Cutter for paper-bag tubes



Dec. 10, 1929. H. HARTMAN CUTTER FOR PAPER BAG TUBES Filed July 14, 192'? 3 Sheets-Sheet I IIIIILI SWIM/atop v Dec. 10, 1929. 1.. H. HARTMAN 9, 4

CUTTER FOR PAPER BAG TUBES Filed July 14, 192': 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 v gmentoa Dec. 10, 19 29. HARTMAN' 1,739,394

CUTTER FOR PAPER BAG TUBES Filed July 14, 1927 s Sheets-Shet 3 JIJIIII'II" ll lllllllllllllllllllllllfllll WHEN gwueflkza akto'znu s atented Dec. v1, 1929 BEGIS PAPER COMPANY, GE NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION Q1 NEW YORK corners roe. rariaae run Application filed m 14, rear. semi No. 205,627.

forming the valve.

In general, the invention comprises means to feed forward a tapered tube continuously,

and means to cut the tube while it is moving, the cutters moving with the tube during the cutting operation. Minor details will appear as the description proceeds.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic plan view of apparatus embodying one form of the invention Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section approximately on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a partial enlarged cross-section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a section approximately on the line 44 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a detail view looking from beneath. at one corner of the presser associated with the cutter; Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail section of the means for driving the cutters horizontally; Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail of a portion of the means for driving the cutters vertically; Fig. 8 shows a portion of the tube as cut and notched by the double cutter.

In the construction shown, the apparatus is mounted upon side frames 10 having flanges 11 directed towards each other at their tops. Reciprocating longitudinally of these side frames there is a cutter carrier-12 adapted to carry a double-knife cutter, and a cutter carrier 13 adapted-to carry a single-knife cutter. Each of these carriers is provided 1 with a groove 14 for receiving flange 11.

Preferably, there are rollers 15 mounted on the flange within the groove for reducing friction. Cutter carriers 12 and 13 are connected by rods 16, preferably screw threaded so that the distance between the cutters may be adjusted.

At the receiving end of the apparatus there is a shaft 17 carrying arms 18 upon the ends of which there are mounted short slitting knives. A sprocket wheel 19 is mounted on the end of shaft 17.

Feed rollers 20 are mounted upon a shaft 21 in position to contact the upper surface of .a tube which is being fed through the machine. A sprocket wheel 22 on the end of shaft 21 is connected by chain 23 to sprocket wheel 19 on shaft 17.- Beneath rollers 20 there are rollers 24 mounted on shaft 25. A main drive shaft 26 is supplied with a handwheel 27 on the end thereof, for turning the machine by hand when desired, particularly for adjustment purposes, etc. Ordinarily the shaft is driven by power means, not shown. A sprocket chain 28 connects drive shaft 26 with shaft 25 and gearing 29 connects shaft 25 with shaft 21. In this way the slitter lggives and feed 'rolls are driven from shaft An intermediate drive shaft 30 is connected to shaft 26 by a s rocket chain 31. Approximately midway etween the cutter carriers 12 and 13 there are lower feed rolls 32 driven from shaft 30 by a chain 33. Above rolls 32 there are rollers 34 driven from rolls 32 by means of caring 35.

At the delivery end of the apparatus there are lower delivery rolls 36 upon a shaft 37 driven from shaft 30 by a chain 38. Mating with rollers 36 there are upper delivery rollers 39 upon a shaft 40 driven from shaft 37 by gearing 41.

A suitable table 42 is provided for supporting the tube and bags between the rollers and cutters, the table being slotted and cut away where necessary to rovide for the pro er actuation of the movlng parts.

ounted parallel with shaft 26 and driven therefrom in any convenient manner, there is a drive shaft 43. If desired, power means may be applied directly to shaft 43 instead of to shaft 26. Suitable gearin is provided in gear boxes 44 to drive rom s aft 43 a crank shaft 45 on each side of the machine. Each shaft 45 is provided with a crank 46 havin'ga crank pin operating in a slot in lever 47 pivoted at 48. A series of holes 49' are provided in the lcvers so that the position of the lever on the pivot may beadjusted. The upper end of the lever is connected to the cutter frames, preferably by an adjustable connection, such as the turn-buckle 50, indicated on the drawwheel.

On the inner side of each side frame there is provided a rack 51. Below each cutter carrier and above the racks there is a shaft 52 carrying ear wheels 53 meshing withthe rack. Brac ets 54 mounted on the shaft are attached to the under side of the cutter carriers.

In each cutter carrier there is a slideway 55in which a cutter head reciprocates. For the double cutter, there is a head 56 carrying two knives 57. On each end of each shaft 52 there is an eccentric 58, and a rod 59 from the adjacent cutter head is attached to eccentric strap 60 about the eccentric. A pin 61 through the eccentric is adapted to enter .the notch 62 in the side of a cog- A spring 63 normally presses the pin into position in the notch.

The cutter carrier is provided with abutment bars 64 beneath the cutter head, the abutment bars being spaced properly to receive the knives between them, so that the knives will make a shearing out against the faces of the bars. Preferably, the upper surface of bar 64.- on the side towards which the bag tube is moving is somewhat lower than the upper surface of the other bar 64, as shown in Fig. 4, so that the cut off end will not contact with bar 64 when the tube is fed forward relatively to the cutter.

Mounted above the knife carrier, but with flanges normally projecting below the knife carrier on'each side thereof, there is a presser plate 66, adapted to hold the bag tube firmly in position during the cutting operation.

The apparatus is preferably adapted for cutting bags with valve extensions in one corner of each. The knife 57, shown in Fig. 3, runs from the left side of the machine, as there shown, to a point adjacent the right side of the machine, while the other knife runs from the right side of the machine to a point adjacent the left side of the machine. The respective ends of these knives are arranged to terminate at the respective right and left hand slits formed'by slitters 18. If preferred, slitters 18 might be omitted, and additional knives might be attached to the cutter carrier 'to out these slits.

After the bags are cut off, the projecting corners are folded in to form valves. It is desirable to crease the corners along a line which determines the proper position of the valve, and the under face of the presser plate .66 is constructed to perform this creasing operation. In Fig. 5 there is shown the under side of corner 67 of presser plate 66, with a ridge 68 running diagonally thereacross to form a crease in the corner of the valve.

In the construction shown, there. are provided on the cutter carriers plates 69 carrying rods 70 which hold and guide springs 71 pressing downward on plate 66.

These springs hold the plate down against the tube when permitted to do so by knife carrier 56. In the upper position of the knife carrier shown in Fig. 3, presser plate 66 is raisedloy the holder 56.

The mechanism for operating the single knife in carrier 13 is similar to that shown in Figs. 3 and 4for the double knife holder, except that only a single knife carrier 72 is proyided, the knife running completely across the paper tube. I

The operation of the apparatus can be readily understood from the foregoing description, but may be briefly summarized as follows. A continuous tube of paper is fed into the apparatus from the right end of the machine, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, and as the tube moves beneath shaft 17 arms 18 revolve and form short slits adjacent each side of the bag. The parts are so proportioned that these slits will be formed a distance of two bag lengths apart. Thereafter the tube is fed forward between feed rolls 20 and 24 and through cutter frame 13.

The revolution of crank shafts 45 oscillates levers 47 and thereby reciprocates the cuttercarrying frames. The driving mechanism is so proportioned that the cutter frames are reciprocated once for ,each revolution of shaft 17.

It will be readily understood that the cutter carriers are gradually startedland stopped at each end of each reciprocation and move faster near the middle of the reciprocation. The parts are so arranged that during the movement of the carriers in the same direction as the tube their motion will be substantially equal to that of the tube for a period during the middle portion of the reciprocation.

\Vhen the cutter carriers are moved towards the right end of the machine, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, gear wheels 53 turn idly with respect to eccentrics 58, one end of notch 62 being properly bevelled so that pin 61 will slide out of this end of the notch. without driving the eccentric. At the end of the movement in this direction, a complete revolution has been made and pin 61 again drops into notch 62. Thereupon when reciprocation towards the left begins the eccentric is driven with the gear wheel and begins to lower the cutter carrier. It will be readily seen that the gear wheels and consequentlythe eccentrics make one complete revolution during the movement of the cutter carrier-to the left. It will be readily seen that eccentrics draw the knives down and again raise them during this movement of the carriers, and that the knives approach and depart from their lower position, that is, they do their cutting approximately in the middle of this movement, so that-the cutting is done while the carriers are moving at approximately the same speed as the paper tubes Itwill be readily understood that when knife carrier 72 is lowered in the above demsasea scribed manner, the tube is cut off square across. When the knife carrier 56 is lowered, each knife 57 cuts in from one side of the tube to an end of the slit adjacent the other side of the tube. The consequence is a severance such as illustrated in'Fig. 8, that is, there are two bag ends 73 and 74 formed having extended corners 75 and 76. A rectangular portion 77 is cut out and discharged downward between bars 64. At the same time ridges 68 upon the presser plate form creases 78 in the respective corners of the bags, where valves are to be formed. It will be readily understood that when thev extensions 75 and 76 are folded in to form valves, the folds will naturally follow the creased lines 78, and these creased lines are so positioned as to determine the location and size of the flaps folded in to form the valves. This is true whether the tubes are formed with gusset-folds at the sides or not.

It will be readily seen from Fig. 3 that one end of knife 57 is slightly lower than the other end of the knife, so that a shear cut is made. Preferably, the single knife also is arranged to make a shear cut in the same way,

either one end being lower than the other, or both ends being lower or higher than the middle. This improves the smoothness of the cutting and distributes the cutting strain over a longer period, so that there is less strain on the apparatus than would result from cutting the entire width of the tube at precisely the same instant.

As a precaution agalnst the doubling down between bars 64 of the forwardly directed valve extension formed bv the cut, a projec tion-or tooth 79 may be formed on the back of the forward knife 57, soas to raise the projection when the knife is raised. If desired other means may be employed to insure the raising of this projection after the .cutting operation.

It will be understood that various changes may be made in the mechanical operation of the various parts and that other changes may be made in the disclosed apparatus within the scope of the appended claims.

WVhat I claim is 1. Apparatus for severing bag lengths from tubes, comprising means to move a tube longitudinally, a rack adjacent the path of travel of the tube, a gear adapted to run on the rack, a cutter carrier supported from the axis of the gear, means to reciprocate the carrier and gear longitudinally of the rack a cutter mounted in the carrier, and means driven by the gear for reciprocating the cutter tosever the tube during the movement of the carrier in the direction of travel of the tube.

'2. Apparatus for severing bag lengths from tubes, comprising means to move a tube longitudinally, a rack adjacent the path of travel ofthe tube, a gear adapted to run on the rack, a cutter carrier supported from the axis of the gear, means to reciprocate the carrier and gear longitudinally of the rack, a cutter mounted in the carrier, and means, driven by the gear during its travel in the direction of travel of the tube, to make one complete reciprocation of the cutter across the path of the tube.

3. Apparatus for severing bag lengths from tubes, comprising means to move a tube longitudinally, a rack adjacent the path of travel of the tube, a gear adapted to run on the rack, a cutter carrier supported from the axis of the gear, means to reciprocate the carrier and gear longitudinally of the rack, a cutter mounted in the carrier, an eccentric mounted upon the axis of thegear. a clutch connecting the eccentric and gear during the movement of the gear in the direction, of travel of the tube and disconnecting the eccentric from the gear during the reverse travel of the gear, and means connecting the eccentric with the cutter to reciprocate the cutter across the path of travel of the tube.

- 4. Apparatus for severing bag lengths from tubes, comprising means to move a tube longitudinally, a rack adjacent the path of travel of the tube, a gear adapted to run on the rack, a cutter carrier supported from the axis of the gear, means to reciprocate thecarrier and gear longitudinally of the rack, a cutter mounted in the carrier, an eccentric mounted upon the axis of the gear, a clutch connecting the eccentric and gear during the movement of the gear in the direction of travel of the tube and disconnecting the eccentric from the gear during the reverse travel of the gear, means connecting the eccentric with the cutter to reciprocate the cutter across the path of travel of the tube, the parts being so proportioned that the gear and eccentric make one complete revolution during'the travel of the gear in the direction of travel of the tube.

5. Apparatus for cutting bag lengths from tubes, comprising means to move a tube longitudinally, a carrier, two cutters on 'the carrier a bag length apart in the direction of travel of the tube, means to reciprocate the carrier longitudinally of the tube once during the travel of the tube two bag lengths,

and means to actuate the cutters during the means to shear the tube against the adjacent sides of the bars, the bar reached last by the tube in its advance being lower than the other bar.

8. Apparatus for severing bag lengths from a tube, comprising means to move the tube longitudinally, spaced bars arranged transversely beneath the path of travel of the tube, a reciprocating knife adapted to shear the tube against the rear face of the forward bar, and means to raise the sheared end of the tube between the bars above the surface of the forward bar.

9. Apparatus for severing bag lengths from a tube, comprising means to move the tube longitudinally, spaced bars arranged transversely beneath the path of travel of the tube, a reciprocating knife adapted to shear the tube against the rear face of the forward bar, and a tooth on the rear face of the knife adapted to raise the severedend of the tube when the knife is raised.

10. In apparatus for cutting bag lengths from a tube, means to move the tube longitudinally, spaced bars arranged transversely beneath the path of travel of the tube, a pair of knives arranged transversely above the path of travel of the tube, and means to actuate the knives and force them through the tube and between the bars, and in shearing relation with the respective bars, the bar reached last by the tube in its advance being lower than the other bar.

11. In apparatus for cutting bag lengths from a tube, means to move the tube longitudinally, spaced bars arranged transversely beneath the path of travel of the tube, a pair of knivesarranged transversely above the path of travel of the tube, and means to actuate the knives and force them through the tube and between the bars,and in shear-,

ing relation with the respective bars, the knives extending from opposite sides of the tube part way across the tube and that knife which shears against the one of said bars last reached by the tube, having a tooth on the face" thereof towards the other bar and at the side of the tube to which the other knife does not extend. I

12. Apparatus for severing bag lengths from a tube comprising means to cut a bag length from a tube, means to hold the tube in position while the cut is being made, and crease-forming means on the holding means adapted to crease the cut end of the bag to facilitate the folding in of a valve.

13. Apparatus for cutting bag lengths ba length, means to hold the tubing while it is eing cut, and a device on the holding means for creasing the bag at the corner where said extension isleft for facilitating the folding in of the valve.

14. Apparatus for cutting bag-lengths from a tube, comprising a knife and means to reciprocate the knife to -cut the tube, a holding plate spring-pressed towards the tube with res ect to the knife and adapted to hold the tu e while being cut by the knife, and a device on the holding plate adapted to crease a corner of the bag length severed from the tube by the knife.

15. Apparatus for severing bag lengths from a tube, comprising a reciprocating knife carrier, knives in the carrier arranged to sever the tube and leave two bag ends, each with an extension therefrom for forming a valve, a holding plate spring-pressed towards the tube with respect to the cutter carrier,

and means on the plate for creasin the corners at which said extensions are le 16. Apparatus for severing bag lengths from a tube, comprising a reciprocating knife carrier, knives in the carrier arranged to sever the tube and leave two bag ends, each with an extension therefrom for forming a valve, a holding plate spring pressed to- Wards the tube with respect to the cutter carrier, and means on the plate for creasing the corners at which said extensions are left, said means being adapted to form-a crease running at an angle of substantially 45 from the edge of the tube to the inner edge of the extension.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name to this specification.

' LOUIS H. I-IARTMAN.

from a tube comprising means to cut the tub ing with a valve extension on one corner of a 

